Nashville has spent the better part of the last decade proving it is as much a food city as it is a music city, and few events make that case more compellingly than the Music City Food & Wine Festival. Under the leadership of Executive Director Olivia Britton, the festival has grown into one of the Southeast's most celebrated culinary events. The weekend draws world-class chefs, acclaimed winemakers, and serious food lovers to the banks of the Cumberland River each fall. We sat down with Britton to talk about what goes into producing one of Nashville's signature events, where the festival is headed, and why she believes the city's culinary moment is only just beginning
What inspired the creation of the Music City Food & Wine Festival, and how has the event evolved since its inception?
Music City Food & Wine Festival (MCFW) under its current ownership came to be after our leadership team at FW Publishing (parent company of Music City Food & Wine, Nashville Scene, Nfocus and Nashville Post) realized that our city didn’t have a true multi-day destination festival like other large southern cities such as Atlanta, Charleston, Greenville, etc. We felt uniquely positioned to be the ones to “bring it to life” as a culmination of elements of our existing food and beverage events (like the Scene’s beloved Iron Fork Chef Competition, Food Faire Market, Best of Nashville, etc) and give the city a festival that really showcased the culinary talent, diverse cuisine and culture that represents this city. Now in our second year, we’ve adjusted our event schedule to have a year-round schedule of events, including our signature spring three-day weekend at Centennial Park, and our Intimate Dinner Series and Iron Fork Chef Competition taking place in the fall.
As Festival Director, what is your overall vision each year?
I hope that the festival grows to be a true destination experience for our city that attracts guests from all over the country and world, while never losing our “secret sauce” that has made us so successful thus far. The "secret sauce," I believe, is first and foremost highlighting local talent and local restaurants. We’ve heard from many restaurants that participation in this event feels like going to a big party of their industry friends and they love the community aspect so we will always keep that at the core of what we do, no matter how big the festival grows or how it changes over the years. It’s also of continued importance for us to find a way to give back and raise funds for our partner nonprofits that are focused on supporting our city's hospitality professionals, our parks and those experiencing food insecurity.
What makes Nashville’s food scene unique, and how does the festival reflect that local flavor and diversity?
Our events are all unique in their concepts and the restaurants that participate reflect that diversity both in style of cuisine and price point. At our Grand Tasting you’ll find everything from your favorite divebar burger joint to one of the top fine dining Michelin-recommended restaurants. That to me truly represents Nashville’s unique food scene as it is less about the price point and prestige. It's more about the experience. We never want the festival to feel stuffy or pretentious. I also think the community aspect of our festival makes us unique. It is so interesting to hear of so many participating restaurants having existing relationships with other brands or restaurants also signed up either via collaborations or donating food for a charity event together. Nashville, at its core, really is a big city small town, and the restaurant industry here is even more so. It’s fun to see everyone come together for one weekend and celebrate those friendships.
How do you go about selecting chefs, restaurants, and partners to participate in the festival?
Our team works year-round with restaurants, chefs and brand partners on our portfolio of events and advertising/marketing initiatives so it is fun to have MCFW as an opportunity for us to ask these restaurants to participate and support our festival and provide samples or host an experience and get that visibility. We also always try and select featured talent and restaurants based on guest experience to provide a well-rounded lineup no matter if you are an adventurous eater or like to stick to more familiar style cuisines. We also want to make sure we are representing Nashville’s diverse community of restaurant owners and chefs and including a mix of newcomers and OG favorites.
Are there any standout experiences or signature events during the festival that you think attendees shouldn’t miss?
I am most excited about the addition of Southern Fried Hootenanny, our Friday night tasting event that is an ode to all things Southern flavors, good times and honky-tonk vibes. Bands from Robert’s Western World will be performing and it will be a can’t-miss-experience with unlimited samples of the best southern style cuisine, a whiskey & beer garden, unique chef demos and is just going to be a fun party in the park to kick off the weekend.
Is there a particular moment or memory from past festivals that stands out to you as especially meaningful or memorable?
At our spring 2025 festival, we had a lot of dicey weather leading up to the big weekend which is any event planner’s worst nightmare! But the stars aligned and the night of our biggest event, the Grand Tasting, we had the most picture perfect weather and there was a moment where the sun was setting just behind the Parthenon, the string lights were twinkling, the DJ was playing a perfect jam and everywhere I looked I saw guests smiling, people laughing, chefs that had become my friends hard at work but having fun while doing it. And it was that moment something clicked and I thought 'This is it – this moment of collective joy is what it’s all about.' There was an energy that night in the park of positivity and gratitude that I am hoping to recreate this year and every year forward.
What exciting new elements or innovations do you hope for in upcoming editions of the festival?
I’m excited to continue to grow our network of “in-market” events that take place at venues, restaurants, bars and locations around the city and outskirts of Nashville. When I look to some of our beacon Food & Wine Festivals around the country, they host nearly one hundred or more “satellite” events that are a more intimate way to highlight the dozens of businesses, artists, sommeliers and creatives involved in the festival and that’s something I’d love to see us do more of in the future. MusicCityFoodAndWineFest.com